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To give a brief summary, I’m sharing my experience and rock haul from the Tucson Gem Show this year. Anything marked N/A in the photo is not available for custom orders. All other stones are up for grabs and will ONLY be fully reserved once you nail a design down with me and a deposit for said design has been paid. Please be aware that unless you’ve sealed a piece with me, I may be showing the same stones to others.

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So. I started in New England, looking at this:

Packed up jewels from my personal collection to sport in the sun:

Took a few planes…

….and entered a region where aliens are abundant. Aliens. Yes. They are everywhere, in bizarre variations that look inviting yet are secretly hazardous…

And yes. I’m talking about these:

I swear these are the weirdest, coolest things. I got so many, “Uhm how many photos of cacti is this girl going to take???” stares. I don’t even care.

Oh yeah. There was also the huge gem show all over the city, that was cool too.

For Rock Appreciation Day this month we have King’s Manassa Mine Turquoise.

Manassa mine turquoise has also been called King’s Manassa turquoise, King’s turquoise, and was originally called the Lick Skillet mine. It is located in South Central Colorado near Manassa. The Manassa mine is reputed to be the oldest turquoise mining deposit in Colorado, and was speculated to have been mined by the Anasazi Pueblo peoples. The mine was “rediscovered”, or founded, by Israel Perviose King when he was searching for gold in 1894. He filed claim on it the next year. The mine has stayed with the King family and is now with his grandson Bill King.

The turquoise from this mine is some of my favourite. It is known for it’s deep greens with host rock rhyolite golden brown matrix, but can produce turquoise in a range of colours.

The turquoise can come in solid colour, bi-coloured, or with host rock webbing. It pairs beautifully with gold and some of the most saturated dark greens are among the most collectible. I love that turquoise from this one area has been used for over 1,000 years and is still seen as a prized and treasured finite commodity.

Below are photos of pieces used with Manassa turquoise that have been sold or claimed.

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Below are photos of Stray Arrow jewels still available!

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In the works is another triple turquoise ring in the “Three Needles” horse shoe style everyone has been asking about! Coming to the shop soon.

Below are some of the jewels that will be going into the shop on Wednesday and Thursday…

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be sure to enter in the discount code if you make a purchase in the shop from now until Monday the 8th at Midnight!

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ROCK APPRECIATION DAY:

For this month, I could only chose one stone. I’ll be highlighting Castle Dome Mine Turquoise, as its become a staple for my Mini Cave Lady Rings! I thought about doing black pyrite for a second stone, but don’t have enough jewelry pieces to use as examples. I’ll have to plot and cook up something big for August!

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Castle Dome turquoise is quite rare as it is a closed mine. Depicting bright light blues as it’s signature, it is located near Globe, Arizona. Castle Dome is also referred to as Pinto Valley Mine turquoise, and it is similar to it’s close neighbor the Sleeping Beauty Mine. Natural material of this is hard to get as most of the rough from when the mine was closed was stabilized and/or used for beads. It started, like many other turquoise mines, as a copper mine. Because of the mining methods used initially (aka blasting. yikes), many of the veins and structures of the turquoise later uncovered were extremely fractured. There wasn’t much solid rough available for lapidary artists to cut.

Personally, I’m not particular to ‘plain blues’ in turquoise. This mine in particular, (and its similarly hued cousin the Blue Moon mine) has grown on me. There are very subtle hues in a lot of the Castle Dome mine turquoise that you don’t find in your standard robin’s egg blue or Sleeping Beauty mine turquoise. It has light “watermark” patterns, that aren’t webbed or water webs. I adore pairing it with darkened silver, as it gives it contrast to highlight the stone. It also makes for a macabre pairing, and always reminds me of the bottom of pools.

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I’ll be using more of this turquoise in fresh designs soon. What’s pictured is all I have left!

For this double Rock Day we have Imperial Jasper, and Lace/Banded Agate. The usual disclaimers apply-

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(Royal) Imperial Jasper

Jasper and agate are two of the most varied stone types out there. Jasper is of the quartz variety, almost always opaque, and reaches a 7 on the MOH’s hardness scale (for reference, diamonds are a 10 on the scale). It is said to be an impure chalcedony. Jasper can come in any colour. Because there are so many different colour and pattern variations, there are beyond dozens of “types” of classified jasper. Some other types besides imperial jasper would be Ocean jasper, Plume jasper, Picture or Landscape jasper, and so on. Jasper is found worldwide, but the majority of the beautiful type known as “Imperial Jasper”, or “Royal Imperial Jasper”, comes from Mexico. A light pastel version of the deeper colours associated with imperial jasper can also come from the Willow Creek Mine in Idaho. The main defining characteristics of imperial jasper are any combo of green hues, warm red/pink hues, and cream/brown hues. Rarely seen are the colder hues like grays and blues. There is a soft creaminess to the colours, and the highest grades show distinct banded patterns of colour. The bands or lines within this jasper can be referred to as “streamers”, when the jasper fractures and is then filled in with more jasper. Colours can swirl and merge from the rock forming process yielding amazing patterns. The most prized of all imperial jasper, are “Royal Imperial Jasper Nodules”. These nodules have a variety of colours in a banded pattern like an orb, stemming from the center of the stone.

The imperial jasper below is my own collection. All are up for grabs for custom orders except the small oval with rust and deep green colours of the same value. This is being used in a large ring…

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Lace and Banded Agate

Lace agate is quite close to jasper. It is also in the quartz family, and another variety of chalcedony. Classified as microcrystalline quartz, it measures a 6.5-7 on the MOH’s hardness scale. It can be opaque or translucent, and any degree in between. Like jasper, there is an inmeasureable amount of different types. Lace agate is close to banded agate and striped agate. Crazy lace agate is a more specific type only found in Mexico. Crazy lace agate can also be known as the “Laughter Stone”, or “Happy Lace”. Agate is said to start as a nodule in volcanic rock and ancient lava. From formation, the insides of agates are often left hollow and can form druzy quartz on the insides. This type will be saved for another Rock Day. The stones below are my collection of lace and banded agates up for grabs. The bottom left is crazy lace agate.

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Pieces made with lace and banded agate.

An example picture to show the difference between some plume and lace types…

A DISCLAIMER: I am an enthusiast. I have gathered all of the information here by myself over years spent drooling over and collecting rocks. I have not been trained, schooled, or educated beyond my own research. I am not a lapidary artist, mineralogist, gemologist, mine owner, or any other kind of authority on gems, stones, or minerals. I am simply sharing information I have gathered through reading and observation, and my opinions. If you see something mislabeled please –kindly- let me know.

For this Turquoise Guide, the main aim is to educate anyone and everyone who would like to know how to identify the quality of what they’re buying (many of these factors can be applied to all stones, not just turquoise). A three star grading system will be used solely within my shop for my own jewelry pieces, and will be explained with examples towards the bottom of this post.

I will be using select terms in repetition for describing aspects of stone quality. These are also just handy in general. Here is a list of some terms that may prove useful with a few example pictures:

Rough/Nugget: when a stone is in a nugget or chunk rock form straight from the earth.

Slab: After the rough/nugget stage rocks are cut into working slabs (from what I’ve seen around ¼” thick), that a lapidary artist will trace in pencil where to cut cabochons.

Preform: The shape of a cabochon cut from a slab and roughly started.

(click picture to enlarge)

Cabochon (cab for short): Stones used in jewelry, mainly for bezel setting. Cabochons are flat on the bottom and polish domed on the top for easy setting.

Doublet: When a stone or gem has some kind of backing. This can been seen in “opal doublets” or triplets-which is done to save money. In the case of turquoise, however, it is often done in the lapidary process to work with the stone when shaping and polishing. Turquoise is very soft compared to other mineral types, so many natural turquoise stones will more often than not have a resin backing. This can actually be handy when buying turquoise because stabilized, or enhanced turquoise won’t have any resin backing.

Enhanced: When natural stones are treated to improve colour, finish, strength, or other characteristics. This lessens quality as “natural” is more desirable. Enhancement methods can include surface coating, filling cracks, oiling (usually done to emeralds to hide fracturing), waxing, dyes etc.

Stabilized: A form of stone enhancement where plastic resins are forced into the pores of a stone to harden and brighten colour. The only way I know of to test this is to take a heated pin to the stone and see if you smell plastic.

Fracture: A crack or break in the rock. Fractures can also be teeny tiny river shaped cracks in the surface of a stone, which is common among older stock pieces, natural pieces, or especially soft pieces. A stone can often still be used with fractures as long as there is no chipping, but they are not desired.

Porous: A stone with tiny holes in the surface. While these can still be beautiful, things like water and oils from skin can get into the rock and change it’s colouring over time.

Value: Spectrum of light to dark.

Hue: Essentially colour.

Saturation: The intensity, depth, and vividness of colour.

Chroma: Purity or intensity of colour.

Luster: State or quality of shine.

Water Web: When a stone features a webbing pattern of two different tones/values of turquoise without a host rock.

(click on picture to enlarge)

TURQUOISE & QUALITY.

LOCATION:

All of the turquoise I collect comes from the American Southwest. Other turquoise hubs that I know of are China and Persia. Persia produces a lot of great quality blue turquoise that can also sometimes be seen in Native American Indian jewelry. China produces a lot of enhanced or stabilized turquoise, as well as quality turquoise like that of the Hubei Mine. I’m sure there are other “hubs” that produce turquoise, but these are the prominent three I’ve been exposed to constantly while rock roaming.

In theory, a mine owner or their employees will sell rough to lapidary artists who then create cabochons or other stone styles from the rough. Sometimes a mine will produce turquoise in several stages for sale (rough, slabs, cabs). Essentially what it comes down to is it is on the mine owners, operators, employees, buyers, lapidary artists, and any other middle folks between digging the rock out of the earth to the hands of a jeweler to keep the Mine location of the turquoise properly labeled. This is a very hopeful practice. Many people say you can never really know where a stone comes from. I met a man once who could tell you the exact Mine or Mine pit a stone was from just by looking at it. It really depends on how much exposure you have to turquoise, and how close you are to the source. Sometimes a stone origin can be evident if a mine has signature characteristics that NO OTHER MINE HAS. Damele and Lander Blue come to my mind (watch out though! Highly prized Lander Blue is often poorly faked. Anything that isn’t sold for hundreds a carat ain’t real folks). Mines that are really close in location and colour qualities are harder. For instance Crow Springs, Ajax, Royston, and Pilot Mountain mines can be confused very easily. While most stones are only graded in quality based on the condition of the stone, turquoise also factors in location and colour.

COLOUR/PATTERN:

Colour is always subjective. Back in the day deep saturated blues were considered prized. Solid colours were considered higher quality. Nowadays pale blues, deep greens, and everything in between has become collectible. Patterns make for more unique stones, and unique stones are always more sought after. No matter what, a mainstay in quality is spider-webbed turquoise. A clear webbing pattern is always the highest quality. What I look for in colour is uniqueness and chroma/saturation. The deeper colour of the stone the better in my book. Different hues, like mixed blues and greens, are also a hit. I veer towards the collectible “military greens” often seen in Manassa, Blue Gem, and Royston turquoise. Rare hues are also what I cherish, as I’m a bit of a colour nerd. Anything topographical or “earthy” I’ll jump on. Pale blues can also be beautiful, especially the “white turquoise” of mines like Dry Creek. Any kind of webbing, boulder cut, or water web is always special and a bit harder to come by. If a colour looks “chalky”, or less saturated, I’ll personally consider it lower quality. An example of this is two different rings I made in the same “Green Grasses” theme. Both cabs were natural from the Crow Springs Mine. One is a deeper green and I considered that to be more prized.

TREATMENT:

The highest quality stones are natural. Always. Natural stones are often, but not always backed or mounted. If a stone is too soft it is often stabilized or enhanced in some way. High Grade natural turquoise is a small percentage of turquoise produced from a mine that is hard and can take a good polish. There are always exceptions based on location. For example a webbed Damele turquoise with one or two chips may be prized more than a hard, high polished Kingman mine stone. There is always subjective compromise based on location, pattern, and colouring. The general consensus is natural>treated every time. The difficult part for many is being able to tell when a stone is enhanced in any way. For me, I think stabilized stones look dulled out and more plastic like. While it is done to strengthen and brighten colour, the overall appearance is waxy and too high polished to be believable. Then again, there really is no way of knowing unless you know and trust the source or get it professionally tested.

OTHER FACTORS:

The highest grades of turquoise will be either the perfect hue (robin’s egg blue), spider-webbed, water-webbed, birds eye, include pyrite, fossils, dendrites, or be extremely rare based on mine location. Few are able to obtain and use turquoise of this grade and it is what I would consider to be “museum” or top quality. Any of these types of turquoise that aren’t extremely hard, cut well, and polished I would consider to be “good/decent” quality. Natural turquoise that is a jewelry standard usually features one solid colour or decent matrix. I prize turquoise with pyrite, tight spider and water webs, and rare mines.

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TURQUOISE GRADING SYSTEM FOR THE TURQUOISE STONES I USE IN MY OWN JEWELRY:

A three star (***) system will be seen displayed with each piece of jewelry I create involving turquoise. A single star will encompass the majority of turquoise used. To the best of my knowledge, this will always be natural turquoise. One star will stand for wholesale to decent grade turquoise. Two stars will stand for higher grade turquoise or rarer mines. Three stars will rarely be seen and reserved solely for my best top-notch turquoise stones collected and used.

These stars will appear at the bottom left corner of the first photo for every Etsy turquoise listing from now on. The star shown is how I will be grading the stone in the jewelry piece.

If you see a stone and fall in love, but it is low quality-it doesn’t matter! Anything has the potential for beauty. This guide is merely to inspire confidence in any customer, to establish price points, and for sharing information. I care about what I use, produce, and offer to people. There’s nothing better than someone enjoying something I’ve created. I love turquoise, and I want you to love it as well. Sometimes I also use rough, uncut, or unpolished turquoise. These stones will also be graded with one star. I use these because of either where they come from, the colour, or just because they are really, really cool rocks. I love the thought of the process they go through coming out of the earth, and capturing it in an early stage for jewelry use is exciting.

WHEN BUYING JEWELRY:

Sometimes I will actually snag and use a turquoise stone when I do not know, or am not sure of the mine. This may be because the stone is obviously of amazing quality, or because I just think it’s darn nifty. A stone is a stone, after all. When you buy jewelry, from me or any other jeweler or place out there, make sure people tell you what you’re getting! If the “main stone” of a piece is listed as Sleeping Beauty mine, do NOT assume this covers any other turquoise stones in that piece that are not identified. I’ve seen this a lot where someone will use one nice stone, and surround it by cheap stabilized Chinese turquoise. If they don’t know where it’s from, they should tell you. It may or may not lessen the personal value you project towards that jewelry piece, but you should have all the facts. Most people do not know the mines of the stones they use, and it should not take away from the piece unless you’re aiming to collect a mine.

Secondly, all sides of what you are planning to buy should be seen. Sometimes there is a limit to how many photos of each item a seller can post depending on the selling platform. If I do not post a picture of the back of an item, it is usually because of this reason or lack of detailing on the back. Never hesitate to ask for more photos from anyone to see all views.

*PRICING*

If the price is too good to be true, it usually is. Rare turquoise is RARE, and thus expensive. Once a mine is depleted, all that is left is uncut rough or old stock cab collections on the market to be used. If someone is selling “natural”, “rare” turquoise, or anything from a specific mine, at a low cost, they are either not making any money or being dishonest. My particular prices are extremely fair for what the turquoise stones themselves alone retail for, or cost for collectors. I have worked for several years to search out reputable and trustworthy sources. If you have a questions about a stone used in my jewelry, feel free to ask.

If you have any questions about any of my work, never hesitate to ask me. Be nice though, and remember we’re all human.

^these little Manassa post earrings are of decent quality and have a lot of beautiful teeny patterning, hue, and chroma variations.

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^custom 1″ Manassa Mine plugs with solid and ribbon cut turquoise.

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^while the Mine is unknown, this is natural, webbed, Southwestern turquoise.

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^certain Mines, like a lot of Kingman Ithaca Peak, are actually popular in this more “nugget like” form. They are collected this way and still prove of great quality.

^this last one is unknown, Kingman mine is usually more blue as seen in the two previous.

^lower quality White Buffalo- this ring is one of my personal pieces i made for myself.

^custom Buffalo&Crow cuff, with White Buffalo ribbon cut. Ribbon cut and boulder turquoise is automatically considered a little lower in quality simply because there is less turquoise involved and more host rock. These types have become collectible in their own right for contrast between the turquoise and host rock, and patterning.

In replacement of the monthly “Rock Appreciation Day”, I have been working on a Turquoise Guide post. This will be for any turquoise enthusiasts, but primarily for customers to see examples and know exactly what they’re getting-whether it be Stray Arrow Jewelry or from elsewhere. There is a lot of turquoise jewelry out there-as there should be! It’s an amazing stone with so many lovely variations. Unfortunately, it is often misrepresented, not labeled at all, or people just don’t know enough to know what they’re looking at. This identification stuff can get pretty tricky, after all. Even mine owners and lapidary artists can fight about where a stone came from, and the more time has passed the harder it is to tell. So, the information I will be giving you is how *I* pick the turquoise I use. Specific concerns that factor into stone selection.

The post will cover: natural vs stabilized, location characteristics, and first and foremost quality. I’ll have examples from very low quality to museum quality.

The most important part of this upcoming post will be a

*TURQUOISE GRADING SYSTEM*

created by me for use only within my shops, for my pieces. This will consist of a three star system, and be at the top of every single turquoise listing I create. I’ll stand by it so you know what you’re getting, and can have confidence in your purchased treasures. Because this is going to be extremely extensive, please allow me one more day to finish it! All of the examples are coming straight out of my own Treasure Chest from my collection. The post will be published tomorrow night and used as a reference point from then on.

For both giveaways I made a list of the names entered with numbers next to the names. The drawing for the Koroit Dirt Drop Necklace was out of 24 names, the Buffalo out of 64. I used a random number generator to choose the winners:

WINNER of Koroit Necklace:

SARAH HAYWARD.

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WINNER of Buffalo:

LAUREN PROPER.

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Congrats to Lauren & Sarah! You’ll be contacted to confirm shipping info. Thank you so much to everyone who participated! Grazie Mille for the comments, compliments, shard stories, quotes, lyrics, and little diddys. We’ll have to see what I come up with next December!

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If you all didn’t notice, both shops are currently on VACATION. I had some panic last time that folks couldn’t “find” my shop on Etsy and thought I had been lost forever, so DON’T PANIC. They’ll reopen next week! Meanwhile I’m out on the road to see some good ol’Bluegrass banjo music. Speaking of banjos…..

*NEW ITEM PREVIEW*

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I’ve always liked some nice twang. While I listen to many, many different “genres” of music, I adore old Appalachian Folk, Bluegrass, Delta Blues, and old Country. Banjos in general are just neat. So, I’ve been bangin’ out some 5 string banjo-shaped pieces for keychains and little necklaces. They are out of thick copper and bronze in two different sizes. Each has my maker’s mark on the back, and a CUSTOM song quote or tittle on the front. There will also be a standard set of quotes to choose from. The key chains will be great for guys and gals alike, the necklaces shall veer slightly towards a steampunk fashion with antique watch faces for the banjo body, reading, “BANJO TIME”, on the back. These will be up in the shop for sale next week as a “first draft”at this new concept.

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These new goodies will also be in the shop next week:

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Also new will be one of a kind stacking ring sets, “The Cave Stack”. Each will feature two pieces of natural turquoise from a collectable mine. Each will have 4 rings in the stack total, often spur of the moment made stackers. These may be one shot items. They’ll all be patina rustic, echoing your inner cave dweller. The Cave Stack below features Castle Dome turquoise from the Southwest in a size 7.5. A set featuring Damele mine turquoise is also made up in a size 6, and a #8 Mine Cave Stack is currently in production in a size 8.5. These can also be custom made!

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NOW ON TO ROCKS.

Some sad news is I *WON’T* be heading to the fun and fruitful Tucson Gem Show this coming year. After getting slightly more organized this year, I’ve realized that I do have an extensive rock inventory that really does need to be used up before I buy oodles more. Because of this, I just snagged a HUGE, MASSIVE amount of natural old stock turquoise stones from a secret source of mine. In addition I’ve formed a couple of other selective sources for primo quality natural turquoise. A few days before I picked these out, the man I acquired them from had just had a mini summit of sorts with 5-7 different Mine *owners*, so this is pretty great stuff straight from their respective sources. Most are currently up for grabs for any custom orders (great for Cave stacking sets!). Feel free to inquire about any sizes, or custom ideas!

It has happened! I have officially hit 1,000 sales in my main Etsy shop, and I know it had nothing to do with luck. Selling on Etsy has been amazing. Starting a business in any capacity is hard. Perching over my little sawing set up late at night while still at school with a full 8 class course load and tons of things on the side was worth it. It’s been an absolute pleasure to do what I love, and be able to share it with people. It’s been a slow and steady learning experience that is the most rewarding thing I’ve done to date. Those that know me personally know I’m not a particularly gushy person, but I truly want to thank all of you for your support. I’ve had some unique and inspiring customers. I swoon over the feedback some have left, and I adore discovering how many people out there share my interests. Y’all truly are, the bees knees.

In celebration, I’d like to give back a little. The 1,000th sale was free. From tonight, until *tomorrow night at midnight*, take 25% off your entire order! Use the coupon code in the photo below upon checkout in the Stray Arrow Etsy Shop.

Other names the stone has been called are, “Crazy Horse”, and “Appaloosa”. It is called Wild Horse for it’s similar patterning to the Appaloosa horse. It is unfortunately often mislabeled as turquoise or white turquoise. Hailing solely from Southern Arizona wild horse is seen in a lot of Native American Indian jewelry, along with turquoise, coral, and shell. It is considered quite rare because of the one current Wild Horse marketed source, and is very popular.

Magnesite is magnesium carbonate. Wild Horse differs from your basic white/gray magnesite because it has hematite mixed in, giving it beautiful white and brownish patterning. It is around a 4-5 on the hardness scale, and in the Calcite rock group.

The picture below shows the current Wild Horse Magnesite stones I have in stock. They range from decent quality (left) to highest quality (right). The higher the quality, the more separated and clear the minerals within the rock are, thus the incredible bark like patterns. The decent quality (note: NOT low or poor quality, of which I don’t stock), can have lighter mauve colours blended within it. All of these are up for grabs for custom orders. The three long oval shaped highest quality would be grouped for a bracelet.

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I currently have one piece with Wild Horse Magnesite up in the shop. Below is that piece, The Stormy Plains Ring, and other pieces with Wild Horse that have sold.

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Below is a ring I currently have in progress. The White Oak Bark ring features a lovely little drop of Wild Horse Magnesite, set on a hand sawed sterling silver white oak leaf with rose gold fill veining. This will be in the main shop later on…

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That’s it folks!

A big heads up that by the end of tonight will be a very important blog post about a GIVEAWAY.

Don’t miss out! There will also be another mini blog post tomorrow with a PREVIEW of new items before they hit the shop tomorrow night and Monday.